Thinking about changing lenses

So most of my sessions are small children and families. I alway use either the 50mm 1.8, the 85mm 1.8, or the 18-55 kit if Im looking for the wide angle sho. I have a Canon T3i.

I love shooting with primes but I hate switching lenses up during a session. So I'm considering switching to a zoom. I would love the Canon 24-70L 2.8 but its out of my price range. So I'm thinking about the Tamron 24-75mm 2.8 XR Di instead.

Has anyone had experience with this lens? Would you recommend the switch based on my reasoning? I love how sharp my primes are. And I would hate to get rid of them only to regret it later. Also I've thought about possibly trading or buying used but it scares me because I've never bought used before.

Here is a link to my site to see some of what I shoot:brandonbass.smugmug.co​m

24mm isn't very wide on APS-C, so I wouldn't get a 28-70 or 24-70 on an APS-C if you find yourself commonly going wide.

The 17-50 flavors are good standard zooms if you feel the need for a zoom.

Personally I usually just used two cameras, one with a long prime and one with a short prime. Really depends on what you're doing. Usually this is only something you'd worry about (prime that is) with outdoor portrait where you're going for shallow depth of field. Without that specific genre of portrait, you have no real need for a fast prime. I do a lot of studio and full depth of field portrait (in the outdoor environment) where I don't use shallow depth of field, and I actually go wider and wider, recently been doing a lot at 17mm on full frame (10~11mm on APS-C) with full depth of field, outdoor. I actually like it a lot. But it's all about your preferences, or your client's preferences,etc.

I know price is probably a barrier, but the Sigma 18-35 ART would be a really great lens for family and wide portrait on APS-C.

Another option you could consider is to sell the T3i and get a 5D classic (nearly straight trade in cost). And then get yourself a standard zoom (28-75 F2.8 as they're inexpensive and great). Also gives you more options for wide primes or typical standard zooms. If you do a lot of portrait, I'd start thinking this direction.

So I've started looking into the 5D classic now maybe instead of a new zoom lens. With them being so old now, I'm worried about how long it might last if I do get one. Would purchasing a used one for around 400-500 make sense?

You'll note that the 5Dc thread is still one of the most active threads. Those cameras are still kicking it well on 10+ years later. There is always one for sale basically. And they always sell. $300~350 is a good price for a good working 5Dc. I still shoot mine to this day. Excellent old work horse and gives you the full frame experience if you want to see how the FOV and focal lengths play together. The color and rendering of the RAW files are excellent.

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